Kenya safari

october 19 — 25, 2025

the retreat:

Join Morgan O’Hare and the Present Practice Yoga community for an unforgettable 7-day Yoga & Luxury Safari Retreat at Ol Pejeta Safari Conservancy at the base of Mount Kenya. This once-in-a-lifetime retreat is open to all levels of practice. The intention of this Retreat is to connect deeply with yourself, nature, and the world around you. Gift yourself the time and space to disconnect from your busy life so you can reconnect with yourself and your life like never before. Plus, you’ll have our incredible community to support and expand your experience.

The theme of this retreat is finding your calling and tapping into your intuition through self-discovery and self-trust. Through yoga, meditation, journaling, discussion, and connection, we will explore these bigger questions that yoga aims to answer. Plus, we will soak in the wonder of Kenya’s wildlife through morning and evening game drives (safaris) and yoga overlooking the safari plains where elephants frequently come to visit us during class. There is nothing quite like it.

This retreat is so wonderful — Morgan led a retreat here in 2021 and can’t wait to be back in 2024 and 2025 with more retreat groups! It’s that special.

Kenya safari

Ol Pejeta is a 90,000 acre, award winning conservancy that is home to large prides of lions, leopards, elephants, rhino and more (all of the Big 5!). Ol Pejeta has open plains and secret valleys all at the base of Mount Kenya, Africa's second tallest mountain (behind Kilimanjaro in Tanzania), and you can see the peak when the sky is clear! Ol Pejeta is located right on the equator, so we cross it several times a day on our safari drives. Plus, while most of Kenya has a lot of mosquitoes that carry different diseases, Ol Pejeta is at the right elevation and has NO mosquitoes! You can also see many of the planets each night due to its location on the equator. It is truly magical and does not feel real.

Ol Pejeta is ~4 hour drive from Nairobi or a quick charter flight. We will be taking two private charter flights from Nairobi to Ol Pejeta on the first morning, will be picked up from the airstrip by our open-air safari 4x4 vehicles (only 4 person in each, each with a private guide and lion tracker!) for an hour-long safari drive to arrive at the retreat center. After our retreat is over, we will take a private bus back to Nairobi to allow for seeing the countryside and villages and stopping for souvenir shopping in local markets (there is beautiful art and woodwork!). Fall is the perfect time of year — it is chilly at night (after our night game drives, you'll be delighted with the warmer placed in your bed during turn down service) and warm and sunny during the day.

retreat center

Our retreat center is luxury African safari at its finest — no detail is left untouched. Each "cottage" is spacious with a large veranda overlooking safari plains (yes, you will see animals!) and has its own private bathroom with hot showers and super cozy beds. You can choose to sleep with just the window screens to feel as though you are one with nature, or you can zip the windows closed.

Safari veterans Andy and Sonja created this retreat center with so much love and care. Andy has 40 years of experience in the bush, and his wife, Sonja, is the best chef around — she can make just about anything and cater to any dietary preference. They are the ultimate team and the whole center runs like a big family.

The food is a major highlight of this retreat — expect nourishing, fresh, and homemade food. Sonja has her own cookbook and is incredible in the kitchen. Each morning before our first safari drive, coffee and a light breakfast of yogurt, fruit, and granola will be delivered to each cottage. Either on the safari (bush breakfast) or after the safari, we will have brunch. Lunch will be served after our yoga sessions overlooking the safari plains — this retreat is all-inclusive, including alcohol, so at this point, you may choose to indulge in a glass of wine with lunch before our afternoon siestas (yes, naps are the best here! The animals do it too). Dinner is always elaborate and amazing. We will gather together, drink good wine and cocktails (or mocktails) and enjoy whatever Sonja whipped up.

yoga & programming

Yoga teaches us to turn inward, make peace with the present moment, and open our hearts to life around us. This 7-day container, without the distractions of everyday life, offers the opportunity to truly connect with your deepest intentions. With all the distractions of life on pause, there is space to carve out your path and reconnect to your life with purpose and clarity. This retreat will include (optional) daily yoga, meditation, and several workshops. However, the main focus is on the safaris as that’s really why you’re here!

We will have mid-morning sessions (after morning game drive and breakfast, right before lunch) that include meditation, pranayama, and a vinyasa-style class on the yoga deck that overlooks the safari plains! We will also have journaling and discussion circles each day that guide us through philosophy of yoga and the theming of the retreat (finding your calling). Every other afternoon will have workshops before our evening game drive and dinner — we will have a backbend workshop, handstand workshop, and closing cacao ceremony! And yes, elephants will occasionally walk right by us while we are practicing (this picture below IS the yoga deck!) - it's incredible.

WhAT We will do

We will explore the culture and embrace all that Ol Pejeta and Kenya offers. We will participate in a cooking class with Sonja and the staff at the retreat center, learning to make traditional food with a modern touch. This is the ultimate cooking class experience - it is on the lawn in front of the main cottage, overlooking safari plains, and the staff does the work for us. While we sip our cocktails (or mocktails), the staff cooks away and let's us do some of the fun stuff.

During one of our morning game drives, we will take our safari vehicles into the town and visit the women's' center for spinning and weaving. They make beautiful and affordable rugs too, and some people had them shipped back home on our last retreat!

The best way to fully embrace the culture is through our safari drives and connecting with our guides and the staff, most of whom are from nearby villages and are really treated like family.

experiencing safari life

The real reason we are here — the animals! Every morning, we will embark on a sunrise safari drive after waking up to coffee and a light breakfast in each of our cottages. There will be a private 4x4 open-air safari vehicle for every 4 of us, each with a knowledgeable guide and lion tracker. Some mornings, we will have a bush breakfast, where the team sets up an incredible brunch spread in the middle of the bush (where the animals are!). It is magical.

Each afternoon before dinner, we will embark on our second safari drive and be out observing the wildlife until sunset. It becomes a night drive on the way back and you are more likely to see the big cats come out. Drinks and snacks are provided for sundowners in the bush — its the best happy hour you can imagine! And one night, we will have our bartender to make us cocktails on the equator.

We will spend 6-8 hours every day in the safari vehicles searching for lions, cheetahs, leopards, cape buffalo, zebras, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hyenas, hippos, and more. There’s nothing like enjoying a cocktail watching the sunset in the middle of the safari plains as lions and giraffes walk by.

ACCOMMODATIONS

We will have the entire safari retreat center for our group's private use! There are four cottages total, and each cottage has two rooms (each with their own private, large bathroom) with a spacious common living area and massive porch and lounge areas overlooking the safari plains. Coffee and light breakfast will be brought to each cottage, and a lovely turn-down service happens while we are on evening safari drives.

Each room is spacious and can be setup as one king bed (couple), two single beds, or three single beds. The middle cottage's porch will be used for some of our meals together (others will be on the yoga deck or in the bush!). Because these two rooms will have slightly less privacy during meal times, each of these rooms will be set up as triples and have a discounted price. At this time, solo occupancy rooms are not available due to the limited capacity of the retreat center and capacity of the private bush flights.

At night, there are night guards to walk you between the cottages. They will also point out the stars and show you which planets you’re able to see since we will be right on the Equator!

Daily Retreat Itinerary

DETAILS

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

Luxury accommodation and meals at safari retreat center

All yoga and programming: morning meditation and practice, afternoon workshops, cacao ceremony

Activities including all safaris, cooking class, visit to nearby town

Custom-made retreat journal

All drinks (including alcohol)

Transport to and from Nairobi (bush flight on the way to the retreat, private bus on the way back)

All conservancy and anti-poaching fees

ADDITIONAL COSTS:

International airfare to Nairobi

Visa for Kenya ($51 online)

Travel insurance - not required, but recommended

Souvenirs or anything you choose to purchase outside of retreat activities

Gratuities for safari guides and staff - recommended $50-100 cash total

INVESTMENT:

The all-inclusive 7-day yoga retreat and intensive is $5600 per person for a triple room (3 people) and $6800 per person for a double room (2 people).

A $1000 non-refundable, non-transferrable deposit (included in total price) is required to save your spot! The rest of your balance is due 90 days before the retreat. If you’d like to setup a payment plan, contact Morgan at presentpracticeyoga@gmail.com!

Spots are limited and our retreats always sell out. Secure your spot below! You don’t want to miss this.

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